When starting up a new radio access node, such as a radio base station or an access point in a Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN, the radio access node is generally not pre-configured with any information. By not pre-configuring the radio access nodes the vendor is released from the administrative burden thereof and also the burden of keeping track of how each radio access node is configured. A non-configured radio access node is also much more useful and may be used anywhere in the radio access network, since it is not limited by its configuration. As a consequence the radio access nodes need to be configured at site before they can operate normally. Therefore, during initialization the radio access nodes generally need to connect to a management server in order to get access to configuration data necessary for subsequent enablement of normal operation of the radio access node. To access this information from the management server, the radio access node must initially be provided with some information about its management server, e.g. the identity of the management server and/or the (location) address of the management server.
The current solution to deal with this is to connect a laptop to the radio access node via a wired connection and manually enter the needed data to the radio access node via the user interface, normally the keypad of the laptop. This is typically done at the site where the radio access node is to be physically located. Since the installation process requires manual input by someone, this is sometimes considered a security risk. Furthermore, manual input by human beings may be error prone. Yet further, this process requires fairly skilled personnel. That is, the personnel may need to have a detailed technical skill, e.g., about the installation process.
Thus, if the configuration is done in factories by the vendors or in delivery centers by either the vendors and/or the operators, it will place an undue administrative and logistic burden on the vendors and/or operators. On the other hand, configuring the radio access notes on site will require skilled and costly personnel. At the same time there is an increase in installations of radio access nodes and especially low output nodes used in heterogeneous networks together with a desire in the industry to keep costs down and/or to increase availability of manpower with as low skill and/or short training as possible.